18 research outputs found
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Towards a global model of the martian atmosphere
In an effort to continuously improve the capabilities of the Martian atmospheric predictions at LMD, the GCM has been extended into thermospheric heights thus creating the first model to self-consistently couple the lower and upper
regions of the Martian atmosphere. The behaviour of
the Martian thermosphere is strongly influenced by
lower atmospheric processes and has complex dynamics.
Such a fully coupled model will certainly aid in the preparation of future missions and on the analysis of future high altitude data, as well as serve as a base for the simulation of ionospheric processes, escape, etc
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Modeling of the general circulation with the LMD-AOPP-IAA GCM: Update on model design and comparison with observations
The LMD-AOPP GCM is developed conjointly by LMD in Paris and AOPP in Oxford, with the collaboration of
IAA in Granada for the physical processes specific to the upper atmosphere. The collaboration between the
two teams is based on the use of two different dynamical core (gridpoint at LMD, spectral at AOPP), which
allow us to estimate the likely uncertainty arising from certain types of modeling errors. Similarly, we use
different schemes to compute tracer transport, etc. The work has benefited from support from ESA (since 1995)
and CNES (since 2000). Within that context, the GCMs are used to produce a Martian climate 'database' which
is used by more than 30 teams around the world for mission design and scientific studies (see Bingham et al.,
this issue and Lewis et al., 1999). The baseline version of the GCM is described in detail in Forget et al. (1999). Here we describe the recent improvement and design changes since this publication. Compared to this previous version, the new GCM covers a wider range of altitude, from 0 to 120km in the vertical, it uses improved topography and thermal inertia surface
maps from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), and includes a new 'dust scenario' to describe the distribution of airborne dust in the atmosphere
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The Mars Climate Database
The Mars Climate Database (MCD) [1] is a database of statistics describing the climate and environment of the Martian atmosphere. It was constructed directly on the basis of output from mulitannual integrations of two general circulation models (GCMs)developed by Laboratoire de MĂ©tĂ©orologie Dynamique du CNRS, France, the University of Oxford, UK, and Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, Spain, with support from the European Space Agency (ESA) and Centre National dâEtudes Spatiales (CNES). A description of the MCD is given along with a comparison between spacecraft observations of Mars and results predicted at similar locations and times in the MCD.
The MCD can be used as a tool for mission planning and has been applied to prepare for several missions in Europe and the USA. It also provides information for mission design specialists on the mean state and variability of the Martian environment from the surface to above 120km. The GCMs on which the database is founded, include a set of physical parameterizations (radiative transfer in the visible and thermal infrared ranges, turbulent mixing, condensation-sublimation of CO2, thermal conduction in
the soil and representation of gravity waves) and two
different codes for the representation of large scale
dynamics: a spectral code for the AOPP version and
a grid-point code for the LMD version. The GCMs correctly reproduce the main meteorological features of Mars, as observed by the Mariner 9 and Viking orbiters, the Viking landers, and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS). As well as the standard statistical measures for mission design studies, the MCD includes a novel representation of large-scale variability, using empirical eigenfunctions derived from an
analysis of the full simulations, and small-scale variability based on parameterizations of processes such
as gravity wave propagation. The database allows the user to choose from 5 dust storm scenarios including a best guess, default scenario, deduced from recent MGS observations, an upper boundary for an atmosphere without dust storms, as observed by Viking the landers, and a clear, cold, lower boundary scenario, as observed by Phobos 2 and from Earth. The full version of the MCD is available on CDROM (for UNIX systems and PCs) and is also
accessible through an interactive WWW interface at
http://www-mars.lmd.jussieu.fr/
Simulation of The Early Mars Climate With A General Circulation Model
International audienc
Simulation of the early Mars climate with a general circulation model
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3D Simulations of the Early Mars Climate with a General Circulation Model
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